Peru Part II

(April 4, 2019)

We rolled into the tiny town of Augas Calientes late at night and it was pitch black outside.

We got to our hotel just before the power went out for the night.

We slept for a few hours and set our alarms so that we could go stand in line at the bus stop.

We got on the bus and made our way to the tippy top of the mountain.

The bus ride was so bumpy and windy.

The roads were narrow.

We tried taking a picture but all of them were so blurry because of how bumpy it was.

 

 

After all the hoops we had to jump through- we finally made it.

MACHU PICCHU!!!! 

When we walked through the gate we were greeted by some llamas and lots of fog!

It was chilly but no one was really there.

So we started the day pretty much by ourselves. 

 

 

We decided to hire a guide and take the tour in and out and all around the grounds.

 

 

We watched the fog evaporate by the minute...

and with each minute more of Machu Picchu revealed itself.

We loved our tour guide.

We loved learning about the land, the culture and the religion.

We learned about Pacha Mama (mother earth) and the deep love and respect the people have for her.

 

After our tour we headed to the other side of the park to hike up 

Huayna Picchu (why-nah picchu)

I'm pointing to the top of where we are going.

 

This is by far the hardest hike I have ever done.

It was straight up.

Stair after Stair for over and hour.

 

 

Sometimes they had cables to hold on to for help

But once you got to the top....

 

oh my goodness...

It was amazing!

The Andes Mountain were something fierce.

We literally were on top of the world. 

You can see Machuu Picchu way down there but you can also see the switch backs next to it.

That is the road the bus drives up and down all day long.

Its still unclear why Machuu Picchu exists.

We know this place was kind of like a summer home or a vacation spot to get away.

It is believed they studied the stars while here too. 

 

 

When we got back down the mountain, the fog had cleared out, the sun was out and we got to see it everything in all its glory!

The greens were gorgeous.

The blues were blue.

It was magical.

 

We spent the entire day walking the grounds and finding all the angles to look out at.

We came across more llama

 

and followed them around!

We didn't want our day to end.

We didn't want to leave.

We were some of the last people inside the park.

As we made our way back to the bus more llamas started coming out to eat.

Must have been because there were less people?

We loved it and couldn't get over what an incredible experience we had

in the Andes!

If Peru is not on your bucketlist...

add it now!

Peru Part I

(April 1, 2019)

 

For Romneys 40th birthday I wanted to surprise him with something BIG.

But I knew I wanted him to be super excited about it.

 I caved and told him about the two different places I was thinking about.

They were places that were super high on his bucketlist.

He picked Peru!

We invited our traveling buddies and the Tangs were in!

There was lots of planning and coordinating and pre purchasing tickets etc....

WELL......

We drive out to LA so excited!

We park, we walk in the airport, we stand in line, we hand over our passports and

we were told our Passports were NO GOOD and that we could NOT get on the plane.

Wait, what???

The lady at the front desk told us that we needed at least a 6 month buffer before the expiration date.

We were shocked!

So really a 10 year old passport was only good for 9.5 years.

They printed up paper work for us to take to the consulate and get a "same day passport" 

We told Jason and Heather to go ahead and that we would meet up with them the next day.

We all said goodbye hesitantly.

And we rushed to a Wallgreens and worked on new passport pictures.

We ended up taking and retaking pictures and eating powdered donuts with the photo guy!

It was a disaster yet hysterical. 

We left for a hotel and slept for MAYBE 3 hours.

 

We woke up so early the next day so we could wait in line at the consulate office.

300.00 dollars later we got new passports!

We got back to the airport super confident to only find a HUGE backed up line.

Apparently the plane was having issues with the bathrooms.

They couldn't let us on the plane if the bathrooms weren't working.

I ran all over the airport trying to get on another flight with other airlines.

If we missed this flight it would screw up the entire trip!

I said so many prayers.

I prayed for the people working on the bathrooms that they would see the problem

I prayed for the plumbing to work

I prayed for every detail I could think of....

and BAM- it got the green light.

WE FINALLY got on the plane and were officially ready to start this adventure--even though the adventure started 24 hours earlier!

 

We landed in Cuzco!

It felt amazing to have made it after the fiasco!

The Tangs were supposed to be there waiting for us but they weren't...yet.

Eventually they made it and Jason had the taxi driver get out to hold the sign they made.

Love it!

We got in the taxi and set out on adventure number two.

We had a couple hour drive to Ollantaytambo to catch a train.

 

We stopped along the way for bathroom breaks and saw this gem of a woman and her llama

 

we stopped to look out over Sacred Valley

It was GORGEOUS!

 

Our awesome cabby got us to the town of Ollantaytambo where adventure number three awaited.

We walked through the cobblestone alleys exploring a new country and looked for dinner.

 

We found the guy in the rock

Eventually we found mediocre food only to realize we needed to get out of there-we had a train to catch (adventure number four)!

It literally was a day of trains, planes and automobiles.

and it was

 a w e s o m e.

 

Lane is 10 Months

 (March 17, 2019)

 10 months!

This little fella is almost 22 pounds and has grown into size four diapers.

His is getting bigger and braver everyday.

 He is taking a few steps from off the couch and looks like a mummy with those happy arms sticking straight out in front of him for balance.

 Diaper changes have become a big ordeal, he rolls like a crocodile constantly while I'm trying to wipe his bum.

 He is babbling dadadadad, nananana, and buhbuhbuh.

He is starting to clap and totally understands "no, no Lane"

This boy has 7 teeth and has had two haircuts this month!

He loves cheerios and is eating more table food than puree foods these days. 

He loves baths and popping bubbles.

 

 

He is getting into everything.

Cupboards, dishwashers, toilets, rolling toilet paper, pulling out tissues from every box.

He is putting everything into his mouth too!

 

He follows the kids around everywhere they go.

 

and wants to do everything they do.

 

Miles puts him on the wiggle cars now and off they go! 

 

He has discovered the play kitchen and makes little messes over in the corner.

 

He still loves hooded towels and thinks he is hysterical.

 

He really is such a sweet happy boy and we are so glad he is in our family.

The year of Rain

 (March 9, 2019)

 

We are surrounded by so much green right now, it feels like were in a little New Zealand.

It has been the year of rain here in Southern California.

It has been dumping buckets of water non stop for weeks and weeks.

So when there is a break in the weather, we try to get out.  

We hiked our local hills today and looked at every detail of every of every kind of flower blooming, every bee collecting nectar, every butterfly flying by.

It was pretty great.

 

 

Big Brother wanted to carry Lane.....

this is as good as it was going to get.

Everything was just so beautiful.

The blue sky and green hills.

 

 

and time to get back home because gray clouds are forming and another storm is rolling in.

Happy 40th Romney

(February 23, 2019)

 

 FORTY!!

My man is  FORTY!

He had to work on his birthday....soooooo

I sent a singing telegram to the Fire Station.

hahahahahaha.

He was so embarrassed but we all know he loved every second of it.

And from what I understood, all the guys are the station loved it too.

You are welcome Rom!

 

 

A few days after his real birthday we had some friends come over for dinner and cake.

Romney requested a lemon cake with Lemon glaze.

 

 

The kids wanted their dad to have a birthday crown like they get every year.

So they made him one.

 

 

And Andie wanted front row seats to the birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Romney!

Sorry you had to work on your birthday, but hiking Machu Picchu in 5 weeks will make up for it!

9 Months of Lane

 (February 17, 2019)

 

9 Months!

This 21 pounder of a baby has thee best hair.

So much is going on up there.

This boy is crawling faster now, pulling himself on furniture and is even starting to cruise the couch step by step. 

He started to wave but stopped that trick after a week....little stinker.

He loves "Patty Cake" and "This Little Piggy".

He giggles when you roll a ball to him.

He crawls over to sit on your lap when you are reading a book but just wants to eat the book!

He is loving peas and figuring out sippy cups.

He has three bottom teeth and one on top.

He is self feeding better and better but still really likes puree foods.

He blows raspberries constantly.

Unplugs the plugs everyday and is knocking books down on the bottom shelves.

He squeals with delight and continues to be the cutest thing there ever was.

 

 

 

Magnus is so good at letting the babies use him to stand up

 

Andie has discovered the baby snacks and has learned the "one for you, one for me" trick.

 

Now that Lane is crawling and standing he is making his way over tot he big kids constantly. 

 This sweet boy is such a joy.

We are so happy he joined our family.

Happy 9 months Lane!

Disney Day

(January 28, 2019)

 

It is always a fun surprise to pull your kids out of school and go to Disneyland.

So happy our friends could go with us.

Two major things I need to point out....

1) Miles is tall enough to sit by himself on Dumbo.

He and Hinsen thought they were pretty big today.

It made my mama heart so nervous, I kept looking back to make sure they were still in there seats.

2) Andie dressed herself-bow to toe! She has a vision and you do NOT disrupt the vision!

So we go in public with a T-shirt under a dress sometimes!

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

I know I say it everytime....

But, it really is the happiest place on earth!